Owner of former Mossleigh church looking for stories, photos to help with historical designation application

A history buff who’s bought an old church in Mossleigh is looking for some information about the building when it was used as a place of worship.

Devin Hauswirth, who lives in Calgary and has ties to Milo, wants to designate the former Mossleigh United Church as a historical property.

The building was first a school, called the Sunset Valley School, from 1915-1940, before it became a church, from 1948-2003.

The one-storey wooden building is located on Mossleigh’s Centre Street. When it was a school, it was located about 10 kilometres southeast of Mossleigh, on Township Road 194.

“I would love to talk to anyone who used to attend the church,” said Hauswirth.

He’s especially interested in talking to anyone who might have pictures, of the outside or inside.

Some repairs are definitely needed, said Hauswirth. The side windows, which are single pain, are rotted quite badly, and need to be replaced, and need to be double pain for heat retention, he said. The stain glass windows also need repairing, said Hauswirth.

He and his wife had been looking for an old church they could turn into a residence — which they might use as a summer home or rent out — when he stumbled across this one. They’ve owned the property for about a year.

The building has previously been used for storage and as a wood shop, said Hauswirth.

“I’ve always wanted to collect a few things back from it,” he said.

At some point, he’s hoping to put a steeple back on the roof, and perhaps another bell. The bell that used to be on the building is privately owned, said Hauswirth.

To get historical designation as a church, information has to be collected about the period of time it was used as a church,

not as a school, said Liza Dawber, grants specialist with Vulcan Business Development Society.

But not much information is publicly available about the time when the building was used as a church.

“With designation, you kind of have to take a snapshot of history,” she said.

Vulcan County council would have to pass a bylaw for the building to become a Municipal Historical Resource. Hauswirth would then be able to apply for grant funding to fix up the outside of the building, said Dawber.

The Vulcan County Heritage Advisory Committee helps applicants with the process of getting historical designation from local municipalities.

Hauswirth said it would be nice for the community if the building could be restored.

After much work done to renovate the former school, the first service in the Mossleigh Community Church, as it was known at the time, was held on July 25, 1948.

“It was truly a community effort and was for the use of any church denomination,” wrote Julia Hagedorn and Bernice Leslie in an article called “The Mossleigh Church” that was published in Furrows in Time: a history of Arrowwood, Shouldice, Mossleigh and Farrow 1883-1982.

Eventually it became necessary for the property to be registered as a United Church, they wrote.

“The Mossleigh Church has been a vital part of the district since its beginning,” reads the article. “The struggle for regular Sunday Services in a church seemed never-ending. The upkeep of the manse required most of the efforts of the Ladies groups. Gradually the congregation grew, members, both adults and youth, joined.

“The building has been improved and redecorated, and is not only functional but very attractive”.

To contact Hauswirth about the church, phone him at 403-801-9372, or email him at devinandkelly@shaw.ca.